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The Episcopal Church has stoked further controversy amid the ongoing Anglican debate over homosexuality in the Church with the nomination of an openly lesbian priest for bishop.
The Episcopal Diocese of Chicago recently announced that the openly gay Rev. Tracey Lind, dean of Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland, was included among five nominees for the vote to take place on Nov. 10.
If elected, Lind would become the second bishop in the Episcopal Church who lives with a same-sex partner – following New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson, whose highly-publicized consecration in 2003 is at the heart of the fierce debate among members of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
The latest developments in Chicago could also be enough to push the worldwide church body past the brink of schism.
Lind’s inclusion as a candidate for bishop is sure to further intensify next month’s meeting of U.S. Episcopal Church bishops, who are due to meet and discuss whether to agree to demands from the Anglican Communion to unequivocally pledge not to consecrate any further openly gay bishops.
That meeting, set for Sept. 30, could prove to be a pivotal point in the history of the Anglican Communion. If U.S. bishops refuse to bow to demands from the communion, The Episcopal Church could potentially lose its full membership status within the 77 million-member church body.
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If, on the other hand, the U.S.-based church does reject the demands and the head of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, refuses to retract the membership of the American arm, then Global South church members, who have been the most stringent opponents of U.S. developments, may decide to break away from the communion.
Many Anglican bishops have yet to confirm their attendance at next year’s landmark Lambeth Conference, which is held every ten years.
Originally, those invited to Lambeth 2008 were requested to give their response to the invitation by July 31, but the Rev. Canon James Rosenthal, the communion’s director of communications, noted that the deadline to respond had been extended as some overseas bishops “have stated they have not receive their invitation yet.”
According to U.K.-based Christian Today, only a couple hundred of the 880 who were invited had replied by the deadline.
